Of painted women and patrons : an analysis of personal items and identity at a Victorian-era red light district in Ouray, Colorado

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Abstract

Archaeological investigations of prostitution tend to focus on identifying the presence of females in male spaces and differentiating brothel assemblages from surrounding households. These approaches often focus on upper-class establishments and define prostitutes solely by their labor. Additionally, these scholars neglect the fact that prostitution could not exist without customers. Although often ignored, personal items represent one of the few means of addressing such oversights. In this thesis, I analyze a sample of 948 personal items recovered from the Vanoli Site (5OR30) in conjunction ...